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The Channel Islands and the Great War
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Salvation
Army Women in the Great War
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That the work was valued is reflected in a
note from Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, which states that
the fact that women volunteers worked so close to the front,
and endured the same dangers and hardships as the men was
excellent for morale among the troops. Also many letters
and diaries left by soldiers of the time show that the Salvation
Army women were held in high esteem by the troops for sharing
their hardships and trying to provide basic comforts whatever
the circumstances - as Trooper George Jameson of the 1st
Battalion, Northumberland Hussars said:
"I'd give full marks to the Salvation Army ………..The
main road came through Vimy and down on to the plain that
way. Well, you didn't take that main road if you could avoid
it, it was under constant shellfire. …………….But
tucked into the side of the hill was the Salvation Army.
And they used to have tea and whatever going all hours of
the day. How they survived there I don't know. Wonderful
people. In the middle of nowhere to suddenly walk into a
place and get a piping hot pot of tea, it was a great reviver."
Bousfield recollect how the Salvation Army huts seemed
to always be open, no matter what time they came back from
the Front.
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| Immediately after the war Ada and a small contingent of
Salvation Army women were involved with the Salvation Army
War Graves Visitation Department. Their "Pilgrimages
of Remembrance" involved travelling to England to meet
with parties of bereaved relatives, escorting them to Folkestone
then across the Channel to Calais or Boulogne from where
they travelled to a "Hostel of Consolation" near
one of the many cemeteries in the region. Ada worked mainly
from the Red Shield Hostel in Rue Michelet, Arras, an area
that suffered many casualties of all nationalities. From
the hostels that provided basic, but cheap and safe accommodation,
bereaved relatives would be escorted to the actual graves
of their relatives either on foot or by "motor conveyance".
The work must have been arduous and harrowing, travelling
through areas devastated by war damage. She collected a
large number of postcards showing the devastation in the
areas where she was posted, annotating them on the back
e.g. "This is how Abbeville was when I was in it
last year but with bombs, not shells (1919)".,
Bodies were still being found on a regular basis, communications
had been almost totally disrupted, and a contemporary description
states that "... Farms, factories, whole villages
and towns were uninhabitable and much of the area between
Albert, Bapaume and Péronne was completely devastated.
Rich farm soil had been blasted away, infertile chalk and
clay were visible on the surface (chalk can still be seen
in ploughed fields, showing the sites of shell craters or
trench lines). Rivers were obstructed, fields flooded. Many
thousands of buildings were partially or severely damaged,
and every single commune in the Somme had some war damage
to report." . However journey times were relatively
short - according to their booklet you could leave London
Victoria at 10.00 and be in Boulogne by 13.40. |
Graves Visitation |
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